I am a male Bornean Orangutan also known as the red ape or ‘old man of the forest’. Orangutans are the largest tree-living mammals.

I was born at Duisberg Zoo in Germany on 6th November 1977 but was hand reared in Wuppertal Zoo Germany, I then moved to Dublin Zoo and then eventually arrived in Dudley on the 2nd February 1996.

I have a very quiet and calm temperament and I love to study peoples faces, I am intrigued by ear-piercings and tattoos. I love to play with bread crates, I throw them up in the air, roll around in them and I sometimes even make my bed in them too!

In the wild we live in the canopy of Borneo’s tropical rainforests in Asia. We are solitary animals, females travel with their young until they are adults.

We are also diurnal and arboreal.

I have a long-haired, red/brown coat and my molar teeth have thickened enamel just like yours! As a male I have a large throat patch and large cheek pads. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables and love to drink orange squash. We eat very healthily but occasionally we get treats – my favourite treat is dog biscuits. Orangutans are classed as endangered due to de-forestation of their habitat and through conversion to palm oil plantations. Young Orangutans are still being captured for the pet industry and the estimated population of Bornean Orangutans is only 12-15,000.”